States United to Prevent Gun Violence and its agency, Grey New York, have teamed up for some truly hard-hitting PSAs, including 2013’s famous “Ed” spot, which won a Silver Lion in Film at Cannes. Now, they’ve moved on to a new tactic—a social experiment set in the real world. They did what they’re calling “the unthinkable”—opened a real-looking gun store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and invited first-time gun buyers to check it out, with hidden cameras rolling. To create drama, they put disturbing tags on each weapon, indicating which models were used in particular mass shootings, unintentional shootings, homicides and suicides. Needless to say, the fresh-faced buyers end up looking rather pallid by the end, and aren’t quite as excited to head home with a firearm.
The “More guns equals more safety” argument is easy to make, and one that seems logical enough…until you start looking at the data and learn that the truth is not at all what gun advocates insist it is. Turns out that more guns in fact DON’T make people safer, and it’s not even close.
Of course, ammosexuals have never had a problem with ignoring facts when they don’t mesh with their preferred narrative. When you believe that the 2nd Amendment by definition allows for an American citizen to possess whatever firepower they may desire and for whatever purpose they choose, you’re not really going to be open to having a rational discussion about how to reduce the numbers of victims of gun violence.
One way to drive home the power and potential impact of guns is to do what States United to Prevent Gun Violence did. They opened a gun shop in New York City and each weapon in their inventory was tagged with its history. Not surprisingly, people tended to think twice about buying a weapon that was using in a homicide or a mass shooting. Brought face to face with the horrific fact that the primary purpose of guns is to kill, they lose the facade of a benign abstract concept. Good and decent people don’t want any part of weaponry used to kill…though for some it takes an exercise like that to drive the point home that guns aren’t toys.
Six in ten Americans believe that possessing a firearm makes a home safer, even though study after study have thoroughly debunked this mistaken belief. If you’re a gun nut, though, and you repeat something often enough, you’ll eventually become convinced it’s the truth
“Our goal is to educate those looking to purchase a firearm and ensure they are aware of the potential risks [and to promote responsible gun ownership],” says Julia Wyman, executive director of States United To Prevent Gun Violence.
“Often gun purchasers wrongly believe guns will keep them safe when in fact a gun in the home greatly increases the risk of homicide and suicide. This sets the record straight so consumers can make an informed choice to buy a firearm or not.”
New York City is a fairly Liberal place with strict gun laws, so the reaction created by the store and its inventory may well be different than you might expect from a similar store in, say, Waco, TX. It would be interesting to see what might happen if this experiment was recreated in a more Conservative and gun-friendly environment. Whatever the result of that might be, this experiment shows that minds can be changed. When people know the truth, when they have factual information, they tend to make better, safer decisions. I suspect that ammosexuals might well have a problem with this experiment…but they’ve never been much for accepting the truth and having a rational, fact-based discussion.
The truth is that you may think a gun will make you safer. You may FEEL safer, but you’re far more likely to shoot yourself or someone else by mistake. It’s not the sort of mistake where you’re given a mulligan…and there’s no way to un-kill someone.
Get the facts…and make a safer, more sound decision.
